General Update: The Final Stretch And Amazon's Slow Processing Times

Alright everyone time for a new general update!

Editing by and large has been going about as normal, but you might have noticed a slowdown in actual work output... why?

Well the answer is simple; Amazon used to process files and give them their check for copyright etc within 72 hours of file uploads; at a maximum this meant a week to finalize everything because even if it got a copyright double-check, only another three days at most was needed, since it takes me at most five to ten minutes to respond to copyright queries, as I always keep links to the source files just in case of such a thing.

Now, 72 hours is less than the MINIMUM time it takes for the file to either be accepted or queried by Amazon; it's usually closer to five working days; in other words, a whole week. The book I posted here yesterday had taken no less than ten days to process and be allowed. Edition 280- "Christ or Buddha"- is as we speak still being reviewed, and will also take at least nine days total; it got a copyright query, thus at least doubling the review time.

While I can understand Amazon slowing down some of its services due to pandemic, I am still flabbergasted why all these large tech firms (Youtube and Facebook also) can't seem to keep pace with things using a remote workforce; moderation staff tend to be offshored anyways, and can work from home. Delivery times are so slow that paperback sales collapsed for several weeks (and have partly recovered now) necessitating I release a couple dozen new works on KDP to make ends meet; while this worked, it was a hassle.

In happier news I just got done with the 281st work so I am now in the final stretch of completing the third and final mandatory part of my extremely long term literary crusade. Once I hit the 300th edited work, I intend to take some time just to organize files and even longer-term projects both authored and edited, because after that I can take it a bit more easy. I also want to compile works within occult subgenres to provide collected critical editions with more notes, fleshed out bibliographic material, and commentary.

The Joy of Obtaining New Source Materials

In the last 72 hours a number of things have happened that ought to vastly improve the nature of the work I am doing. I have acquired a brand new gaming laptop (programs like open office run instantaneously with almost no loading time at all on this baby... so does Minecraft!) as well as a bunch of literary source materials- a pair of new herbals, an old text compiling all of the four works of Geber (or pseudo Geber) on alchemy, and a few other odds and ends including a couple of grimoires I hadn't somehow obtained before.

Then to celebrate the occult birth of our country so many years ago, I got a copy of the Lesser Keys; I intend to cross-reference this vaguely critical, academic variant with other source materials as research, although I intend to release both the Ars Goetia alone and the Lesser Keys (Goetia, Theurgia Goetia, Paulina, Almadel, omitting the Notoria/Nova) as non-critical and simply inexpensive editions; trust me I am aware the world needs such a release!

Much work is to be done; happy work, culminating in I hope the 130th edition before Halloween.